There was one air traffic control (ATC) worker on two different tower positions at the same time when the tragic helicopter-plane crash occurred over Washington, D.C. on Wednesday night, according to emerging reports.
The controller who was assigned to helicopters in the vicinity of Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) was also “instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways,” the New York Times reported.
While one ATC source told CNN that one controller working two tower positions simultaneously is not uncommon, an internal preliminary Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report obtained by the Times stated that staffing at the DCA ATC tower was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic.”
The source also revealed that DCA’s control tower was about 85 percent staffed, with four out of 28 positions needing to be filled.
According to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan, an annual report to Congress from 2023, the target for DCA ATC staff should be 30 personnel.
Neither the American Airlines jet nor the Black Hawk military helicopter that crashed into it over the Potomac River are expected to have any survivors.
During President Donald Trump’s Thursday morning press conference on the shocking incident, he announced that the “search-and-rescue” mission had shifted to an effort to recover bodies from both aircrafts.
The total death toll was said to be 67 — 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the plane, and three service members aboard the helicopter.
According to Trump’s understanding of the crash, the American Airlines pilots “did everything right,” and “for some reason, you have a helicopter at the same height and going at an angle. It was unbelievably bad.”
The president slammed the Biden administration’s standards for ATC personnel, saying they were “lower than ever before.”
While the official investigation into what caused the collision is still ongoing, Trump speculated that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies may have contributed:
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom appeared to blame the Black Hawk helicopter for the crash.
“At this time, we don’t know why the military aircraft came into the path of the PSA aircraft,” Isom said Thursday morning, according to CNBC.
“We’re absolutely heartbroken for the family and loved ones of the passengers and crew members and also for those that were on the military aircraft. Our focus right now is doing everything that we can to support all of those involved and also the PSA Airlines team,” he added.
Newly-confirmed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the crash was “preventable”:
“We are going to wait for all the information to come in from this vantage point. But to back up what the president said. What I’ve seen so far, do I think this was preventable? Absolutely,” Duffy said.
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